Meadow Lake curler gains experience at Canadian U20 Championship

He highlighted two close games the team played where he learnt how important it was to stay in the game until the end.

“The one game against New Brunswick, we were down 5-1, and we managed to battle back and take it to an extra end, and we ended up losing by only one point. We had another close game against Nova Scotia, we got up 4-0 early, but they were able to claw their way back and we couldn’t quite hold on,” he explained.

During these competitive games, the curler said it was easy to quickly get discouraged, especially with a loud crowd that he has never experienced in Saskatchewan.

“You could hear the crowd from where you were, and very passionate crowds because obviously you’re cheering for your province. There were a lot of cowbells and horns and people screaming pretty loudly.”

Throughout the experience, coach Craig Robinson helped to keep the team on track by offering support on and off the ice.

Team Robinson with coach Craig Robinson. (Image Credit: Team Robinson Curling/ Facebook)

“He did a good job in between the ends to make sure that we were not losing focus and to just keep playing our game and focus on throwing your rocks and don’t let other factors bother you,” said Kirilenko.

Many of his favourite memories in Ontario didn’t come from on the ice; he said it was all the friends he made from across the country.

“They had a player’s lounge in the hotel; everyone would kind of meet up in there and there were a lot of card games going on. I made a decent number of new friends, and I’ll remember those memories forever.”

The young curler is unsure where this journey will take him next season, but for now he will enjoy the summer months away from the rink.

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com

by Alyssa Rudolph

Meadow Lake curler gains experience at Canadian U20 Championship

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